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I know this is may be a bit abstract and I am over analyzing boxing somewhat, but just for fun I was think about the names of the weightclasses. Why the classes are named what they are, and if others had the choice what would they rename them? I came up with this when thinking about display names, and how I like to come up with oxymoronic ones. I thought of "super average", as a display name and this got me thinking that super middleweight is oxymoronic because "middle" in the context of fighting weights is synonymous with medium and the term medium is synonymous average or typical. The word "super", on the other hand depicts that which is of an extraordinary nature, thus making "super middleweight" an oxymoron.
Since the term middle in the context of fighting weights is synonymous with average, to me at least it would have been totally acceptable to rename the 160lb weightclass the "average weight division", it does sound strange now even to me but consider this; If it was already called the "average weight" and I suggested renaming it the middleweight division then middleweight wouldn't sound strange to you and me? Light heavyweight is also a more obvious example of oxymoron because light and heavy are two terms of opposing meanings.
This analysis of the names we know weight classes by does not stop with oxymorons like SMW & LHW. I wonder how whoever came up with names like cruiserweight, flyweight, featherweight,& strawweight? Wouldn't it be better and less confusing if we didn't have seemingly arbitrary names for weight classes? If you have ever watched boxing with someone who is just a casual fan and they ask "what weight is this", and you say cruiserweight or flyweight for example, usually they don't know what that is and you have to just tell them how much both fighters weight anyway. So why not just let it be a universal custom in boxing to refer to weight classes solely in terms of pounds, kilos, or stones? If you could and would change the name(s) of any weight class what would you change it to? I know the subject is trivial, but if you are obsessed with the sport and you are if you post regularly on a boxing forum, it is worth the time to think about where the names of the weightclasses come from and why they are what they are.
Since the term middle in the context of fighting weights is synonymous with average, to me at least it would have been totally acceptable to rename the 160lb weightclass the "average weight division", it does sound strange now even to me but consider this; If it was already called the "average weight" and I suggested renaming it the middleweight division then middleweight wouldn't sound strange to you and me? Light heavyweight is also a more obvious example of oxymoron because light and heavy are two terms of opposing meanings.
This analysis of the names we know weight classes by does not stop with oxymorons like SMW & LHW. I wonder how whoever came up with names like cruiserweight, flyweight, featherweight,& strawweight? Wouldn't it be better and less confusing if we didn't have seemingly arbitrary names for weight classes? If you have ever watched boxing with someone who is just a casual fan and they ask "what weight is this", and you say cruiserweight or flyweight for example, usually they don't know what that is and you have to just tell them how much both fighters weight anyway. So why not just let it be a universal custom in boxing to refer to weight classes solely in terms of pounds, kilos, or stones? If you could and would change the name(s) of any weight class what would you change it to? I know the subject is trivial, but if you are obsessed with the sport and you are if you post regularly on a boxing forum, it is worth the time to think about where the names of the weightclasses come from and why they are what they are.
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